A Romanian girl in London

My Romanian Diary Day 40: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow and elections

Where do I start? We had elections yesterday and it has been snowing for almost two days now.

Yeah, snowing is more interesting. So…

It happened again. It is snowing in Romania, of course, because it is winter and this is what usually happens in winter. Yet, every fucking single year, everybody is surprised by the first snow. And by the second snow and by the third one and so on. By everybody, I mean the authorities. The plows are not ready or they are not enough or something. There is always a reason why the streets and the roads and the highways get closed. As we speak, 1486 schools in Romania are closed and the prime minister is asking the army for help. And keep in mind that this is just the first snow and it only started on Saturday night.

It is ridiculous. I just don’t get it. It is not like we are tropical country and all of a sudden it starts snowing or it is not like it is snowing in August. It is a very normal phenomenon in Romania, that happens every year, yet nobody is ready for it. Never ever.

Last winter the snow was up to the roofs

Last year it was the most interesting winter. We had a Siberian winter, quite unusual. A very large amount of snow fell, in some villages, the snow level was above the roofs. The prime minister back then (we have a different prime minister every three months but this is another story) got very mad because people didn’t get on the streets and highways to shovel the snow! How can you shovel few meters of snow, I wonder and why would citizens shovel streets and highways, since citizens pay taxes for this kind of stuff?

In my town, last winter was surreal. In December a journalist found out the city hall paid a huge bill for snow removal in November, even though there was no snow in November. The mayor explained that it was the bill for having the vehicles contracted and ready to go. In case of real snow, the rate would get higher. Ok. Then, few days later, it snowed heavily. The vehicles broke down in the parking lot and the plowing was not efficient. Only the main streets were plowed eventually, and only during the day, in crazy traffic. It is expensive to plow at night, you have to pay the people more for working night hours.

A road last winter

Not to mention, the sidewalks are nobody’s business. So after the snowing stops, the sidewalks become skating rinks. For every meter that you have to walk, you have to choose: either you walk on the icy sidewalk and you might get something broken, or you walk on the street and you might get hit by a car. Your call.

All the snow plowed from the streets that were lucky to be plowed was deposited on the sidewalks. It looked like mini Swiss Alps for a while, then the snow got all dirty with dust and dog pee (from the stray dogs that run free in packs in my town and all over Romania) so it was just gross.

Road signs last winter

In March the mayor said, ok, let’s pick up this snow and take it out of the town. The snow was picked up from the center of the town then the mayor had a press conference and said: “You know what? Picking up all the snow is too expensive. Anyway spring is coming and it will melt down. Let’s just pray to god it is going to warm up gradually, otherwise the town will get flooded.” Lucky us, the town didn’t get flooded but I had to wear rain boots on a sunny weather, for a few days in a row.

Sometimes, I think living in Romania is like watching a very low budget dark comedy movie. To keep sane here, you need the expect the worst and when the worst comes, you need a great sense of humor to deal with it. Getting mad is no help, as this is not a normal country.

Other than snow, I have nothing else going on in my life. Except for the usual things I should do but sometimes I don’t, because I am too lazy. What’s new is that for a few days now I’ve been living on coffee, green tea, lemons, oranges and chocolate. I hope I won’t die before the Apocalypse, this would be so ironic. Really now, I need some meat.

I was nominated for a blogging award and I am very very but very excited by this nomination. I will tell you tomorrow morning about it.

At least in Canada the plows are on the streets right away. In Romania, only the main streets are cleaned and not right away, anyway. First they let it snow, then, maybe, they start cleaning up, in case it is too much. If it is not too much, they let it melt. So imagine the ponds we have on the streets.

“I hope I won’t die before the Apocalypse, this would be so ironic. ” LOL. You are too funny! I love hearing about Romania. I didn’t know about the snow, even though I think you mentioned it in another blog. This is so wild! I hope you are gonna make it until you can get some “real” food. They go crazy here too when it’s gonna snow and we only get a few inches. The last time they sent us home from work when there was an inch of snow. It was crazy. Hang in there, miss. Surely, it’s close to vacation now? Will you still be able to go?

Hopefully it stops snowing till Christmas. I am leaving on Dec 27 and I am 210 km away from the airport. I should probably leave within the next days, to make sure I reach the airport on time, lol:))))